Deductive Reasoning
by Lupegarou4488
Summary: When the assassin Cain reappears in Gotham at the same time as an unscrupulous businessman, Batman knows the two events are connected. Now he has to figure out how before someone gets hurt.
1. Wednesday

**Disclaimer: **If I owned DC, Stephanie Brown would still be Batgirl – thus I own nothing.

**A/N:** This is an AU and it is a pre-reboot AU. Also has references to Batman Beyond, but is comics based. Reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated. And yes, they will be acting slightly OOC, its an AU.

**Wednesday**

Bruce glanced around the large office as he stepped into it for the first time in months. Lucius had kept everything the way it had been when he had vanished, allowing no one besides his sons and the cleaning crews access. He wandered absently around the room, re-familiarizing with the layout and the objects that decorated the shelves; mementos and small presents that the boys had gotten for him over the years – most from Dick, one of two from Jason and Tim and one, shockingly enough, that had been thrust at him by Damian as he had left this morning. He turned the clumsily carved bird over in his hand, examining the workmanship – crude, but the boy had obviously put quite a bit of effort into it. He examined the shelves and, finding an empty space near the middle, placed the carving next to a child's drawing of Batman and Robin and an odd looking piece of blown glass.

"Mr. Wayne?" He looked up as Lucius Fox stepped into the room, followed by Derek Powers, an up and coming business man that Batman had been investigating recently. He hadn't been impressed with what he had found – and neither was Bruce; Powers already had a reputation as a ruthless man who would do anything to get ahead, including extortion, blackmail and murder.

"Mr. Powers, I look forward to seeing the proposal that you're bringing to the table." Actually, Bruce was certain that the proposal was designed to further Powers Inc. at the expense of Wayne Enterprises as much as possible, but Bruce wasn't a good actor for nothing. "Let me give the paperwork a once over and I'll get back to you by next Monday."

Powers gave him a thin smile and stood to go, glancing around the office and taking in the various pictures and knick-knacks. "Family trinkets?" Bruce could hear the sneer in the other man's voice, the condescension evident in his eyes. No, Bruce didn't think Powers ever would put little gifts and presents in his office – assuming that he even received them.

"Some." Bruce kept his answer short, not wanting to discuss his children with the man in front of him. Something, instinct, was telling him that he didn't want Powers to know any more about his sons than the man could get in the newspaper. And Bruce trusted his instincts. "If that will be all, I have a business lunch to attend. Is nine o'clock on Monday good for you?"

"That should be fine. I'll be in town for a few weeks, talking to other businesses." Another smile that didn't reach the man's eyes. "See you then."

"Yes." Bruce waited until the door shut behind the man. "Yes, maybe even sooner."

The rest of the day was a whirlwind of people, forms to sign, and meetings to attend, so it wasn't until later that evening that Bruce found the time to actually look at the paperwork that Powers had given him. Tim and Damian were both in the office, reading copies – Tim because he was actually named as Bruce's heir and Damian because he honestly did want to know how the company worked outside of intimidating a few board members.

"Bruce, this contract is ridiculous." Tim highlighted another section that he thought was benefiting Powers at WE's expense before passing the paper over to Damian for confirmation. Damian read the paragraph, flipped back towards the front of the contract and frowned.

"Yes. The person who wrote this obviously thinks you're either a simpleton or won't actually read this front to back." A pause as Damian glared at the paper. "What does this mean?"

Tim leaned over and read the section Damian was pointing at, then allowed the younger boy to flip forward to the section he originally had been reading. "It means that if the conditions of this first paragraph here meet the conditions of this second paragraph here, then Wayne Enterprises owes Powers fifty shares of stock for every instance mentioned."

"It's referring to the retirement of 'long term employees of good standing'. All employees that make it to retirement are in good standing. Otherwise they wouldn't have made it to retirement." Damian sat up from where he had been sprawled on the floor – a mannerism that he had adopted fairly quickly from Dick – and stretched. "You aren't going to agree to something this insipid, are you father?"

Bruce glanced up briefly before returning his attention to the papers. "No. This contract isn't fair to the stockholders, the employees or the family. I am not going to allow the company that my father built up to be destroyed like that."

Tim gave a hum of acknowledgement before he glanced at the old grandfather clock in the corner – not the one leading to the Batcave, but the whole mansion was covered with them. "We going on patrol tonight?"

"Take Dick or Jason with you, I'll be out in a few hours." Tim and Damian exchanged quick glances and rose. "And contact them _before_ you leave the cave."

Tim gave a quick nod, knowing that sneaking out of the cave with Damian in tow was probably not a good idea at this point – Tim could take care of himself, but Damian was unused to working with – or listening to – anyone but Dick or Alfred. And Alfred was a little old to be swinging over the rooftops to keep the youngest Wayne in line.


	2. Thursday

**A/N: **I'll be updating this story weekly. Also, I'm trying to write Damian as swinging back and forth from acting like an entitled brat to an unsure ten year that isn't quite sure how he fits into his family, which is kind of how he acts in the comics. So if he seems OOC, that's why.

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Batman, Jim Lee would be doing all of the drawing.

**Thursday **

"…and that is why I think it would be in Wayne Enterprises best interests to not agree to any deal that Powers offers us." The Board of Directors was holding their weekly meeting – a tradition that had been started back when the company had first gotten so large as to need a board of directors. And now, Bruce watched as every member of the board looked over the highlighted sections, the clauses and the written explanations that his secretaries had added this morning.

"Bruce, is there any way to get this cleaned up and offer a counter proposal?" Jason Bundy had finished first and was now rereading the merger plan. "Powers Incorporated is one of the most productive manufacturers in the country."

"I can have someone go over it and try to salvage it, but the only way that this should be acceptable is if it was completely rewritten." Bruce didn't try to hide his skepticism from the men – there wasn't a point; they all knew that the proposal in front of them was detrimental to the company. Lucius Fox was already nodding, selecting the person most qualified to write up a counter offer for Powers.

"It will take a few weeks to get it written up and through legal, but I can get someone started on it today."

"That would be excellent, Lucius." Bruce glanced at the men around the table – good men, for the most part. "And I believe that was the last item on our agenda?" A round of nods. "In that case, meeting adjourned."

* * *

><p>"I don't want to attend school." Dick glanced up from where he was staring at the large pile of paperwork that had been express shipped to him from New York to give Damian an exasperated look. This wasn't the first time they'd gone over this.<p>

"Well, the law says you kinda have to, D." They were currently in the penthouse, Dick having agreed to take Damian while Alfred did…whatever Alfred did when they weren't around. The butler hadn't really been forthcoming on that point, but Dick enjoyed be able to eat when he visited the manor, so he hadn't pushed.

"You can home school me. That is also perfectly legal. Or you can hire tutors like mother did." Dick refrained from pointing out that Talia had done that to avoid actually raising him – there was no need to rub the fact in the kid's face.

"And Bruce wants you to go to the same school that we attended. He's your legal guardian, which means he's the one you need to have this conversation with." Dick actually felt bad when he saw the look on Damian's face.

"He's never home and I can't have this particular conversation with Batman." Damian did have a point… "Besides, he's leaving this evening to go to Tokyo without stopping at the manor or here. When am I supposed to actually talk to him?"

"Umm…" Dick floundered at that. Bruce was leaving for the weekend to work on Batman Inc., Dick was going to the Watchtower to cover a shift and that left Damian at home with Tim and Alfred. "Talk to him Sunday, when he gets back. You're probably still going to have to go – at least for a little while, but at least he'll know you don't want to."

"Tt. Fine."

**A/N:**please review and tell me how I'm doing.


	3. Friday

**Disclaimer: If I owned, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction - this would be canon and Cass and Steph would still exist**

**A/N: Alright, this part is a collaboration between me and lovergirl85 - go check out her stuff and a virtual cookie if you can figure out which part she writes. Also, Jason has moved past the point where he wants to kill his brothers and he has Jenson Ackles' voice (love B:UtRH). As always, please review and let me know how I'm doing.**

**Friday **

"That is completely ridiculous." Damian stood in front of the training mat in the Batcave, watching his brothers with an expression that was somewhere in between incredulous and amused. Jason and Tim exchanged glances that were definitely amused.

"It's improving hand eye coordination." Jason didn't take his eyes off the screen, fingers working the controller frantically. Tim gave a nod as well, not really paying attention to the conversation.

"You are playing a child's game that requires you to kill people to win!" Damian frowned at the screen.

"It's fun, kid. It's not stressful and keeps Timmy from flipping out and killing everyone." Tim snorted at that, but wisely didn't comment. Jason was pretty good at his chokeholds. Besides, the weekend had been peaceful thus far, even without Bruce and Dick to play referee and he didn't want to spoil it.

"Are we going on patrol?" Damian couldn't stop a little bit of a whine from creeping into his voice, something that, while annoying, meant that he was actually headed towards normalcy. His mother would be horrified; his older brothers were delighted. Jason tilted his head back so that he could see him.

"Yeah, but not right now, it's barely dark. Give it a couple of hours." Jason had recently ditched his Red Hood persona for Shadowhawk, in keeping with the bird theme of his brothers. Tim had also upgraded his costume and lost the cowl and cape.

Damian huffed and crossed his arms, scowling at the TV screen as Jason returned his attention to the game. A few minutes later, Tim became aware of his little brother still standing behind them and this time he tilted his head back to see him.

"You can sit down, you know," he told him. He patted the spot between him and Jason. "Come on." Damian moved forward, a little cautiously and settled down beside Tim, instead of between him and Jason, about a foot away. Tim shrugged. Damian still hadn't quite gotten to the point of allowing complete and total unconditional physical contact, nor, apparently, would he allow himself to the fulfill the want of sitting between his older brothers, something he obviously wanted to do, but wasn't quite sure if he could. Tim wrestled with himself for a moment before pausing the game and setting down his controller. Jason looked half-annoyed and half-curious, but stayed silent, waiting for his younger brother. Damian looked over at him when he didn't move.

"What are you doing?" He asked. Tim grinned and before Damian could react, reached over scooped him and plopped him down between him and Jason. Damian squirmed, but Jason scooted closer to him and dropped the controller in his lap. Damian stilled and looked down at the device in surprise.

"I don't know how…" His voice was a little quieter now and there was only a hint of uncertainty that both his brothers picked up on. Damian never really talked about his life with the League, but Alfred had informed them in an unofficial family meeting, while Damian was in bed, that Damian sometimes treated Alfred like a confidant and shared some of his experiences and insecurities. One of the things he mentioned was mild abuse for not picking up on something quickly. This was one of the first times his brothers were actually teaching him something one-on-one and he was clearly nervous.

"It's easy," Jason said. He wrapped an arm Damian and guided the younger boy's hands to the controller. Damian, surprisingly enough, relaxed with physical contact. Jason just hoped the kid wasn't going to think Jason was trying to make it easier for himself to hurt the kid if he didn't learn fast enough. Damian was tense enough as it was. "Timmy? You wanna start it up?"

Tim started the game and began shooting again while Jason taught Damian the basics of gaming.

"Okay, so this black button here lets you throw grenades. You shoot with the 'A' button and press the 'B' button to jump. Get it?" He waited for Damian's nod and the small scowl at the implication that he might not be able to understand something so basic. "Okay, so the 'X' button will let you pick stuff up. Oh, and the black button on the back lets you reload." He moved his arm away from Damian. "Let's see what you got."

"What-" Damian made a small noise of frustration when he got hit "-exactly are we playing?" Jason and Tim looked at each other for a moment.

"Ah…Terminator, I think," Jason answered. "I dunno, whatever the case on top of the console says." Tim angled himself slightly to see the cover.

"Yup, Terminator," Tim said. "Movie night's coming up tomorrow. We should watch it." Jason gave him a _look_ eerily reminiscent of Dick's. Tim wisely kept the smile off his face so he wouldn't have to explain and get the shit beat out of him for even thinking of making the comparison.

"He's _ten_, Tim." Damian let out a muffled curse when his avatar died because he'd been distracted by the conversation. Tim cocked a brow over Damian's head at Jason.

"Damian, you really shouldn't talk like that," Jason scolded half-heartedly.

"Yes, mother," Damian deadpanned. Then froze.

"Don't confuse me with Alfred." Jason didn't miss a beat, covering up Damian's minor freak-out.

"Seriously, dude. You're acting like D-…like Alfred."Tim was also quick to move the moment past Damian's slip of the tongue, if only for the sake of the kid's pride.

"Dad left me in charge," Jason shrugged, not missing the cover-up. "What can I say?"

"'Tim, Damian needs to see 'Terminator' so that his childhood will be more fulfilled?'" Tim suggested. "Or 'Sarah Connor is hot.'" Jason choked on his spit.

"Dude, he's _ten._ He's not watching that!"

"We can fast forward that part, I don't care."

"Liar."

"For his sake, I don't."

"Fast forward _what_ part?" Damian interrupted. Tim looked at him as if to say '_You_ brought it up, _you_ deal with it.'

"You're in charge," Tim told him, grinning.

"A part not appropriate for minors," Jason said. Damian scowled.

"Tim's a minor."

"Let me rephrase that. Not appropriate for anyone under thirteen," Jason told him, inwardly wincing. He was starting to sound like Dick.

* * *

><p>~What Dick?~ Bruce was in Tokyo for the weekend, meeting with the Bladed Samurai, Japan's hero, to try and recruit him for Batman Inc. Katana was with him, easing the way between the two headstrong heroes. So Dick politely ignored the fact his dad sounded – for Batman – completely exasperated.<p>

~Was it really a good idea to leave them alone for the weekend?~ It wasn't that Dick didn't trust his siblings not to kill each other (anymore), but Jason and Damian both had a highly disturbing love of high explosives that Tim was usually more than happy to go along with in order to 'see what would happen'. That and when Jason and Damian worked together, the number of criminals hospitalized during patrol tended to increase exponentially.

~They'll be fine. ~ Dick could almost hear the smirk in Bruce's voice as it came over the radio. ~I thought I was supposed to be the worrying, brooding one in the family. ~

That was another thing. Bruce was back and that was good. But Bruce telling a joke? That was weird. Not bad weird, just weird.

~Just have a bad feeling, is all.~ And that was the crux of it – that niggling feeling of worry that had been getting steadily stronger ever since he had left to spend the weekend in the Watchtower with the rest of the Justice League.

~Just make it until Sunday night and we'll both be back in Gotham. We'll figure things out then.~ Bruce wouldn't just dismiss Dick's gut – it was right too often. So, feeling a bit better, Batman turned whatever argument that Flash and Vixen were having.

* * *

><p>"Can you do it?" Powers glanced out of the window of his hotel, watching as, below him, Gotham City began to prepare for nightfall. With the camouflage of night, an outsider could almost forget the ugliness and rot that the daylight exposed. But Powers had never been on to shirk from an observation and to him the corruption felt like home. Whatever answer he was given seemed to please him and a smirk appeared briefly on his face before vanishing. "Good. I don't care how you do it, but get it done."<p>

**A/N: How am I doing?**


	4. Saturday

**Disclaimer: **Still don't own, but not as unhappy about it since I've started reading the reboot.

**A/N: **Again, this section is coauthored with Lovergirl85.

**Saturday**

"Get down!" Shadowhawk hadn't realized that he could sprint that fast, covering half the rooftop in time to tackle Robin out of the way of what looked like throwing stars – except that they gave off little lightning bolts every few seconds and had a tendency to explode without warning. The two rolled across the roof, Shadowhawk making sure that he was shielding the younger hero as they came to a stop at wall marking the edge of the roof.

"I'm fine!" Robin shoved at him, but Shadowhawk didn't let him up, unsettled by the way the assassin – who the hell was that, anyway? – seemed to be targeting the youngest hero. "Let me up, To – Hawk!"

"Robin, stay there." Red Robin shifted so that he was between the threat and his brothers, bo staff held in the defensive position. "He's targeting you." A pause as the assassin darted forward, only to be driven back by his defense. "What the hell do you want, Cain?"

"The brat, but really… any of you will do." Red Robin gave an undignified yelp as Cain barreled into him, sending them both skidding over the gravel covering of the roof; then Red Robin stiffened and collapsed as Cain jammed a syringe full of liquid into his leg. Shadowhawk swore and activated his comlink even as he dove at the assassin. No way was the man going anywhere with his brother.

"JLA, Shadowhawk emergency override BG7-65, transport every bio sign within fifteen feet of this signal and I need a med team to the transporter bay." Robin sprinted across the roof and latched onto his arm as the white light of the transport snagged them. Shadowhawk noticed that Cain had made it out of the designated beaming area and felt a brief regret that he wouldn't get to see Batman – either of them – pound the ass's face in.

"What the hell happened?" Batman burst into the room, followed closely by Dr. Mid-Nite and Mr. Terrific – they must have been the two on medical bay duty tonight.

"Assassin." Shadowhawk snapped, checking the Red Robin's breathing and pulse. "Ambushed us by… ambushed us and kept going after Robin. I got Robin out of the way and Red Robin was playing defense when the guy blitzed him and got him with a syringe full of something." He paused and swore. "I left it on the roof, dammit…"

"I grabbed it." Robin held out the delicate container and Mr. Terrific plucked it out of his hands, already examining the liquid still in it.

"I'll start trying to figure out what the substance was, if you three want to wait…" Batman gave a quick nod, his mouth a thin line of worry. Robin slipped in closer and Shadowhawk barely managed to bite back a grin as the kid retreated under the cape, looking like nothing so much as a baby bird under its mother's wing.

"We'll be in my quarters. Call if there's any change." The walk there was silent and the few heroes that were on the Watchtower at the moment wisely kept out of their way, though Shadowhawk thought that was only a matter of time before they were bombarded with well wishers and others. Batman waited until the door was locked before pulling back the cowl.

"I reiterate – what the hell happened?" Dick demanded, scowling at the both of them. Jason pulled off his own mask, not bothering to try and control his temper.

"And I told you – assassin. Tim called him Cain, so he's obviously familiar to…you…" Jason trailed off when Dick turned pale. "What?"

Dick shook his head briskly, his expression getting grimmer. "Cain is one of two, maybe three assassins that know about us. All of it. Tell me what happened, from the beginning."

"We were finishing up patrol – it had been a light night and we figured we'd catch some extra sleep."

Damian had also removed his mask and was sitting on Dick's bed, arms wrapped around his knees. Jason commandeered the chair by the desk, resting his chin on the back. "As we went past Crime Alley, a bolo shot out of the alley and snagged one of Robin's ankles. It threw him off balance and he landed on the roof of that old apartment building, the one right by the theater?"

Dick nodded and sat down next to Damian, wrapping one arm around his shoulders and pulling him close. Damian immediately leaned into the hug, a sure sign of how shaken he was.

"Cain completely ignored me and Red Robin, went straight for baby bird here," a scowl from Damian at the nickname, but Jason ignored it, "and tried to inject him with whatever was in that syringe. I'm thinking it's some type of sedative, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. Anyway, then we started fighting and one thing lead to another (most of which I don't want to get into right now) and Red Robin took the syringe to the leg."

"He specifically targeted Damian?" Dick's voice was sharp with worry and Jason nodded, not much happier than his older brother at the news.

"He said he wanted him but that any of us would do. He was trying to pull Tim off the roof when I called for emergency transport."

"Dammit." Dick ran one of his hands through his hair, looking frustrated. "This is why I hate dealing with crazies that know about us. Did he want Robin or Damian? Batman's protégé or Bruce's sons?"

"I'm a protégé?" Damian perked up at that label and Jason rolled his eyes.

"You're still Robin, aren't you? Dad wouldn't have let you out at night unless you deserved it and could handle it. Thus, protégé."

Dick sighed and carded a hand through Damian's hair, who gave a token protest but leaned into the touch.

"And I don't know," Jason answered. Dick gave him a look. "Was that rhetorical?" Dick flipped him off and Jason snickered before sobering. "He was specifically targeting Damian, but he said any one of us would do." Dick's grip on Damian tightened.

"Dad is not going to be happy," Dick said. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I have to call him…" he trailed off. He wanted to get the call to Bruce out of the way as soon as possible, but Jason could tell he obviously didn't want to leave Damian. Jason wasn't stupid. He had no desire to call Bruce and tell him Cain was targeting them. He'd offer to take care of Damian.

"Come on, kid," he said, standing. "We'll go see how Timmy's doing." He stood, grabbing his mask and Damian stood. Dick stood as well and they pulled their masks on. Robin stuck close to Batman until they were outside the room and then gravitated towards Shadowhawk, not quite latching on, but close to enough cause him trip every other step. He didn't say anything though, nor did he pick him up, because he knew Robin wouldn't appreciate being carried around the Watchtower like a small child, though Shadowhawk had an insane desire to do so. _Must be part of a being a big brother,_ he thought wryly.

Dr. Mid-Nite was in the infirmary, leaning over a microscope when they came in. He held a up finger to signal for them to wait. Robin huffed and crossed his arms, pointedly shifting back and forth. Shadowhawk flicked his head and told him to be patient. Dr. Mid-Nite's face was carefully arranged into a blank expression when he turned towards them, but Shadowhawk was sure he'd seen a smirk at their exchange.

"He'll be fine, but I want to keep him for the next twelve hours for observation. Mr. Terrific says that the liquid was a common sedative, but it had something mixed into it and that was probably what actually caused Red Robin to collapse." It went unsaid that anyone who had ever trained with Batman could shrug off all of the common sedatives and most of the rarer ones. Shadowhawk listened as the doctor continued to list the tests that he wanted to run and kept one eye on Robin as the boy drifted over towards the room where Red Robin was being kept.

"Will he wake up soon?" Shadowhawk cut off the other man's dialogue to get to the important information. The other man looked slightly miffed at the interruption, but kept his peace after a glance in Robin's direction.

"Within the next four to five hours, possibly sooner." A slight pause. "Would you like to bring some chairs into his room so you can wait there?"

Shadowhawk nodded, already moving to grab a few of the chairs set up in the "waiting room" and relocate them into Red Robin's private room. Then they could shut the door and go back to being Jason and Damian, as opposed to Shadowhawk and Robin.

After he had arranged five of the chairs to his satisfaction (because Dick and Bruce would both be in here and Superboy and the other Teen Titans would probably drop in as soon as they heard what happened and he really didn't want to have to deal with having to get up and get another chair later. Once he was seated, he wasn't moving again unless it was to go to the restroom or go home; he could already feel the adrenaline crash coming and silently cursed. As stressful nights went, this was at the bottom of the scale – except for the whole Tim collapsing and almost getting kidnapped thing.) Shadowhawk dropped into the chair and removed his mask, dropping it on the floor.

"Sit down kid, before you fall down." Jason ordered, tilting his head back as he closed his eyes. This was ridiculous. Couldn't they go more than a few weeks without have something go catastrophically wrong? He heard – he cracked a eyelid open and saw that the mask was gone – Damian drop into the chair next to him, staring at Red Robin as though he could will him awake. Jason was more than happy to pull Damian's chair closer and put his arm around the kid's shoulders.

* * *

><p>Dick stared at the communicator, wishing desperately that someone else was going to make the call. He was back in their room at the Watchtower, sitting on the bed. He didn't want to do this at all. Bruce was damn scary when he was overprotective and unfortunately, his 'no killing' rule didn't always extend to the messenger, figuratively speaking. With a sigh, he hit the button that would send the emergency beacon to Bruce's pager.<p>

The last thing Batman wanted to feel was his pager vibrating on his belt in the middle of a meeting. Okay, so at first he didn't think anything of it and checked to see if it was his guardian angel coming to save him by setting up a scenario that needed him elsewhere. Because the meeting with Bladed Samurai wasn't going so well. Katana was trying, she really was, but the other man didn't want to budge.

His guardian angel was an ass.

Because it wasn't his standard pager that Batman had pulled out of his pocket. It was his emergency pager. The one that was, hence the name, only used in emergencies. And more often than not, those emergencies had to do with his sons being shot, stabbed, drugged, kidnapped, beat within an inch of their life or whatever other horrific scenario one cared to come up with.

He shoved the pager back in his pocket and stood. Everyone in the room stared at him. He caught Katana's eye, who simply nodded and began the end of meeting rituals as Batman swept from the room, already running scenarios – each worse than the last, through his head.

Batman waited until he was in his car before contacting Dick.

"What the hell happened?" He snarled, peeling out of the alley.

"Cain went after Damian," Dick answered. Batman snarled again as he reached the old warehouse that currently housed the Japanese Batcave. "Damian is all right, but Tim got a syringe full of what we think is a sedative. Jason beamed them up to the Watchtower. Jason and Damian are in the infirmary with Tim." He paused. "I'm going to contact Babs and have her get her birds off the street, just in case."

"A good move." Batman waited as the car was lowered into the underground storage area. "I'm beaming up."

The arrival area was conspicuously empty when he arrived. Normally, there were at least two people in there, arriving or leaving from all over the world. However, tonight people were wisely occupying their time elsewhere besides the hall between the arrival area and the infirmary. Nightwing joined him halfway to the infirmary.

"Did Cain say anything to them?" Batman asked curtly.

"That Robin was the main target, but any of them would do. That's when he went for Red Robin."

"So he's targeting you four," Batman growled and Nightwing almost felt sorry for Cain. The operative word there was 'almost.' _Maybe_ if he hadn't drugged his younger brother and tried to kidnap his youngest. Maybe.

"Probably." Batman gave him a look and Nightwing shrugged. Okay, so more than likely it was more than probably, but Nightwing wasn't really in the mood to admit he was being targeted by a kidnapper/ assassin.

Nightwing could barely keep up with Batman's stride. In fact, he was certain that Batman could easily outpace him if he didn't want to keep Nightwing in sight as well. Nothing would happen in the Watchtower, but that didn't stop Batman from making sure he knew where Nightwing was. When they reached the infirmary doors, Batman all but dragged him through the doors and over to Tim's bed. No, Batman wasn't overprotective. Why did you ask?

"It was a common sedative with another mild drug mixed into it. The drug is made from asphodel, used to create sleeping drugs. The combination is perfectly harmless, though potent, which is what caused our young colleague to collapse. He'll be all right, but I want to keep him for at least the next twelve hours for observation," Mid-Nite told Batman, not waiting for the man to reach Tim's bed. He knew the Dark Knight would want answers as soon as possible. "I've also looked over Robin and Shadowhawk-" Here, Batman threw him a sharp look "-as a precaution. They're both all right, though _this_ one I've yet to have a chance to look him over." He pointed at Nightwing, who balked.

"Doc, I wasn't even there," he protested. "I've been on the Watchtower for the past twenty-four hours."

"Over-working yourself, no doubt," Mid-Nite snorted. "And not getting nearly enough sleep. And since you are here, young man, you will _sit down_ and let me perform a basic physical." Nightwing threw a pleading look at Batman, who simply pointed to the examination table. Might as well get all of them checked out now, especially with recent events.

"I've been sleeping, Doc, I swear," Nightwing pouted as he sat down. He glared at Batman. "Traitor." As Mid-Nite worked, muttering about masks and their interferences, Batman moved closer to Shadowhawk and Robin. He gave Shadowhawk a rough hug, holding him tightly before pulling Robin close. Robin immediately melted into the cape like he had with the other Batman earlier. Batman pulled the cape around him tightly enough for the boy to feel secure, but loosely enough that he could still see and wouldn't feel smothered. He could feel small fingers holding his belt tightly and he felt a swoop of anger in his stomach at the person who could reduce Robin to this. He put his arm around Robin's shoulders.

"Can I get up now?" Nightwing complained, after a few minutes. Dr. Mid-Nite snorted and nodded, now muttering to himself about impossible patients, namely the Bat Clan.

"He's fine," he told Batman, rather unnecessarily. "But not sleeping-" Here Nightwing made a squawk of protest "-nearly enough." He nodded at Red Robin. "Contact me if there's any change." With that, he left the room. As soon as the door whooshed shut, the masks came off almost instantly and everyone settled themselves into a chair. Damian had firmly established himself in the seat next to Bruce.

"Did he say when Tim would wake up?" Bruce asked.

"He said within the next couple of hours," Jason answered. "Possibly sooner." Bruce hummed in acknowledgement and silence settled over the group. Soon Damian's head began jerking as he tried to fight off weariness and he kept blinking rapidly. Bruce finally reached over, picked him up and settled him in his lap, guiding the boy's head to lie on his shoulder. Damian frowned.

"I'm not tired," he declared. And then promptly yawned. There were quick grins all around that were quickly stifled.

"Of course not," Bruce said. "But I want you close." The explanation satisfied Damian and he leaned his head against Bruce's shoulder again. Within moments, he was asleep.

"Too bad you guys are in costume," Dick said idly. "We could take a picture."

"Hang it on the fridge," Jason continued.

"Timmy would have a heart attack when he saw it, of course."

"Damian willingly falling asleep on someone's lap would give anyone a heart attack."

"I think Damian willingly sitting on anyone's lap, really…"

"Boys," Bruce said reprovingly, but he was smiling. He turned to Jason. "Are you sure you're all right?" Jason nodded.

"I'm fine. Pissed at Cain, and I wanna know why he's going after the Baby Birds, but other than that…" He trailed off. Dick snorted.

"You're a baby bird, too, Jason," he pointed out. Jason glared. Bruce snorted.

"You're all baby birds. Don't start arguing now, please. You'll wake your brother up," Bruce told them. Jason and Dick were both stunned into silence that Bruce had willingly said something like 'baby birds'. That's what all the Robins had been called when they were younger by other heroes, but Bruce had never said it.

The door chimed and almost at once, everyone was yanking their cowls back on. Bruce grabbed Damian's mask and placed in the boy's lap before sweeping his cape over the sleeping figuring, obscuring him from view. Dick checked to make sure Tim's own mask was secure. A moment later, Kon entered the room, followed Cassie.

"I didn't know you guys were on base," Nightwing said by way of greeting, frowning. Kon shrugged, his gaze zeroing in on Red Robin.

"Hello to you, too, Nightwing. We weren't," Cassie shrugged, plopping down in an empty seat. "We were at the Tower. Flash contacted us about Timmy. How is he?"

"He'll wake up soon," Shadowhawk answered. She nodded, satisfied before focusing on him.

"I don't think we've met," she said, sticking out her hand. "I'm Wondergirl, a.k.a Cassie." She smiled.

"Jason," he replied, pulling off his mask, ignoring Batman's glare. If they knew Timmy, then they could probably do two plus two and Bruce could get over it. Her eyes lit up in recognition.

"Tim's told us about you," she said. "He's really happy you came back." Nightwing hid a smile. He was willing to bet that Red Robin had told his friends to tell Jason what he had said when they finally met him. Or Cassie was just that insightful. Shadowhawk still occasionally second-guessed himself when it came to his place in the family. Hearing that Tim talked positively about him to others would probably give him a confidence boost. Cassie gave a cursory yank on the back on Kon's shirt. "You're allowed to sit down, you know. There's another chair here for a reason." Kon looked down in surprise before settling himself in Damian's vacant seat.

"Where's Robin?" He asked, looking around. Batman growled. Cassie elbowed Kon with a hiss of, "He doesn't like us, remember?"

"Sorry."

"He's safe," Nightwing answered, because Batman would up and murder him if he said 'sleeping under the cape.'

"That's good," Cassie replied, not pressing and cutting Kon off, who looked as though he might."The others will probably be up soon. We left a message for them, so they'll probably show up when they make it back to the tower." She shrugged and leaned back in her seat. "Unless, you know, Timmy wakes up and you whisk him away back home. In which case, the whole of Team Titans will show up on your front doorstep. And if you don't want that to happen then I would suggest leaving him here."

"Who was it?" Kon asked, bringing their attention back to the night.

"Cain," Dick replied, pulling off his mask and reaching over to pull off Tim's. Batman kept his cowl on. "And Dr. Mid-Nite wants to keep him for the next twelve hours." This was directed at Cassie.

"What was he drugged with?" She asked, leaning forward.

"A sedative mixed with asphodel," Jason answered.

"Do you know why?" Kon asked. Dick shook his head just as Cassie's pager went off.

"Damn," she muttered, standing even as she checked. "That would be Wonder Woman."

"Everything all right?" Jason asked. He had no intention of leaving to help unless it was something _really_ serious, but he was curious all the same. Cassie huffed.

"Something had better be wrong, dammit," she answered. "It's my weekend off. I swear, if it's because I have to make nice with the family or something stupid…"

"You get weekends off?" Jason asked, surprised. She grinned.

"Perk of joining something like the Titans or the League, Jason," she laughed, just as Kon's went off. "You take turns playing hero." She and Kon glanced at each other and then turned and left the room. Kon paused at the door.

"Let us know if something changes." And then he was gone.

"Let them know if something changes?" Jason repeated in disbelief. "While they're dealing with a crisis?" Dick shrugged.

"They do that," he replied. "It hasn't changed too much since I was there. We would say stuff like that all the time." Batman snorted.

"They got mad if they couldn't have hourly updates on any injured teammates while they were away on a mission," he told Jason. Dick grinned.

"Radio silence was only silent if everyone was okay," he chimed in. Jason snorted. Silence reigned in the infirmary after that, everyone lost in their own thoughts.

* * *

><p>If Batman had to deal with one more well wisher, he was going to strangle someone. Probably the next well wisher that came through the door. Jason had long since disappeared, not liking to deal with people in general and even Dick was looking a bit frazzled. Batman would've sent him out to look for Jason, but then he would have to deal with the people that came through the doors by himself and quite frankly, sometimes he felt Damian's interpersonal skills were better. He also would've gone out to look for Jason himself, but Damian was still fast asleep on his lap under the cape. He wasn't going anywhere until the boy woke up.<p>

The door opened and Batman barely contained a snarl. But it was Shadowhawk, followed by Dr. Mid-Nite who looked somewhere between annoyed, exasperated and amused. Shadowhawk just looked sulky.

"I've forbidden visitors until Red Robin wakes up," Dr. Mid-Nite informed them. "I suspected you all might be getting a little fed up with them. My suspicions were confirmed when I found this one trying to hack the system because he was tired of having to deal with people and computers don't talk and he was _bored_." He gave Batman a reproving look that it seemed only doctors could master. "That was the polite explanation, by the way." He checked the monitors while Shadowhawk slumped down in his seat. After a few minutes, he nodded, satisfied. "He should be waking up within in the hour. I'll try to keep everyone out until you've had at least an hour with him awake."

"Thank goodness," Dick muttered, as soon as he was out of the room. He was frowning slightly. "That's a really strong drug."

"No kidding," Jason muttered in agreement, running a hand over his face. "What was it called again?"

"Asphodel," Batman answered. "It's not deadly, but mixed correctly it creates a potent sedative…as witnessed. It's found near the Mediterranean. It's in the lily family. Mixed with wormwood it creates an effect very similar to death."

"Well, that's a ray of sunshine right there," Jason muttered. "At least we don't think he's dead." Batman sent him a dour look, but was spared answering by a small groan. He started to stand, only to remember the sleeping child in his lap and instead settled for leaning forward slightly.

"Jason?" Tim groaned and turned his head.

"Right here, man," Jason answered, leaning forward and grabbing Tim's wrist.

"W-where's D-da-"

"Sleeping under Batman's cape," Jason told him. "You're up on the Watchtower and we're all here."

"Everyone…?" Tim coughed and Dick stood.

"I'll get some water," he said quietly.

"Dad?" Tim turned his head side to side, looking for him. It looked more like it was flopping. Batman finally took off his cowl.

"Right here, Tim." Bruce reached out and placed and hand on Tim's forehead. Tim quieted under his touch. "Are you all right?"

"Tired," he mumbled. "Head hurts, thirsty…confused."

"Dick's gone to get some water," Bruce told him. "After Cain attacked you, Jason managed to beam the three of you up to the Watchtower."

"Cain…?"

"Got away," Bruce answered, his mouth tightening.

"He's a bastard," Tim informed them.

"Yeah, we know," Jason snorted. "Trust me." Tim grinned weakly and turned towards the door as Dick came back in, carrying a cup and pitcher of water.

"Starfire thought you'd want more than one glass," Dick said, answering Tim's slightly confused look.

"Why aren't you Batman?" He asked. "I thought you came up as Batman." Dick chuckled.

"Not the bright, shiny pitcher then," he said. "I did, but we had to get Dad up, so I went back to good 'ol Nightwing. Didn't want to confuse people. They wouldn't know what to do with themselves if there were two Batmans up here."

"Be funny to see sometime," Tim yawned. "How long-"

"Close to seven hours," Bruce answered. "Dr. Mid-Nite wants to keep you another five hours for observation." Tim made a slightly unhappy noise in the back of his throat. "I know. I'd rather you back down at home, but-"

"Even Dad knows better than to argue with a doctor," Jason finished.

"Especially one that can fight back," Dick grinned.

"I dunno…I think Leslie could hold her own against Batman."

"You've got a point there," Dick mused.

"She can and does," Bruce interrupted. "Tim, go back to sleep. You'll be back home soon. You two, shut up." Tim grinned and shifted, slipping himself further underneath the covers and Dick obliged, reaching over and tucking them more snugly around him.

"You never tuck me in," Jason pouted. Dick snorted.

"I'll be sure to try that when I want a broken nose," he told him. Jason grinned.

"Aw, now we can't have that, Goldie. What will the ladies do?" Dick glowered. "What will _Babs_ do?"

"Murder you, no doubt," Dick told him, sounding smug. "For marring my perfect face." Jason snorted.

"Dude, 'perfect' is not the word I'd use," he told him. Dick grinned.

"Chiseled? God-like? Handsome?"

"Retarded…"

"Boys," Bruce interrupted for the third time. He couldn't resist asking, "How old are you again?" Jason and Dick looked at each other. Bruce regretted asking.

"This many," Dick said in a baby voice and holding up five fingers giving Bruce his best child eyes. Jason nodded empathetically and held up five fingers as well. Bruce groaned. It felt like it.

* * *

><p>When Tim next awoke, it was to find Bruce, Dick and Jason all slumped in their chairs, dozing lightly. Damian was across the room, examining one of the machines intently.<p>

"I have a feeling that's important, so if you turn that off I'm gonna be pissed," Tim rasped. Damian didn't jump, but he turned around quickly and before Tim could blink was across the room and climbing up on the bed, settling down next to Tim, his legs hanging over the edge, kicking them slightly. Tim tried to smile weakly at him.

"How are you feeling?" Damian asked, somewhat stiffly.

"I'm thirsty," Tim answered. "Headache's almost gone." Damian reached over for the water pitcher and poured a glass.

"Again? Honestly, Drake. You might turn into a camel if you keep this up," Damian told him. Tim pushed himself into a sitting position as Damian held the water out for him. "Drake?" Damian's voice turned slightly worried when Tim didn't take the proffered glass.

"Dizzy," Tim muttered. "Vertigo sucks." After a moment, he looked up and took the glass from Damian.

"Your hands are shaking," Damian observed. Tim made a face.

"Thanks, kid. That's what everyone wants to hear."

"Shaking is perfectly normal for someone recovering from being drugged or sedated," Damian informed him.

"You've been drugged?" Tim frowned. Damian shrugged.

"A few times. Needless to say, the first time it happened I was a bit…disconcerted." Tim grinned slightly.

"Translating to 'you were freaked the hell out.'" Damian scowled and they both jumped when Damian's foot accidentally hit one of the supports, creating a slight clang. The other three men jerked awake and instantly their attention was focused on the bed, where Tim and Damian were sitting frozen.

"Um, morning?" Tim looked at each of them in turn. "Did you sleep there all night?"

"It's still early morning," Dick yawned and stretched, rubbing the back of his neck to work out a kink. "So, technically, no." Tim rolled his eyes.

"So, now we're on technicalities. Why is I'm never allowed to get away with that?"

"Um…because I'm older?"

"That's dumb." Dick smirked.

"You make that sound like that means something, Timmy." Tim crossed his arms.

"It should." Bruce resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"Get your masks back on. I'm going to find Dr. Mid-Nite." The unspoken 'to get us the hell out of here' was heard loudly in the room. He pulled his cowl on and left as everyone grabbed their masks and put them on. A few moments later, Dr. Mid-Nite and Batman walked into the room. Dr. Mid-Nite did one last check over Red Robin and then turned to Batman.

"The effects will still be apparent. I recommend lots of rest. It may take a few days for them to fully fade." He stared at Batman. "I'd say contact me if there's any trouble, but we all know you won't do that, so I hope you have a doctor nearby." He ignored Batman's sudden scowl and turned on his heel, leaving the Bat Clan behind him.

"So…can we go?" Red Robin asked. "I mean, this is great and all, but…" He made a vague gesture and Batman nodded. "Great." He made to stand. As soon as he took his weight off the bed, though, his knees buckled. Almost instantly, he was held up eight arms and then he was being hoisted up into someone's arms, bridal-style. It took a moment for the vertigo to leave and for him to identify the carrier as Batman.

"So-"

"Don't apologize," Batman cut across him shortly and headed for the door. "When we get back, you're spending the day sitting down. I don't care how many alarms go off."

"Yessir," Red Robin said meekly. Then he frowned. "Wait, the whole day? That's not-" Batman glared. Red Robin shut up. There were some fights he would not win and some fights he'd be stupid for even trying. This one would be the latter.

Bruce held him all the way back to Gotham and all the way back to the Batcave.


	5. Sunday

**Disclaimer – **don't own, wish I did, etc, etc,

**A/N: **collaboration with lovergirl85, and as for this – in my universe, which is hard to put in the story if I want to keep it under a million pages, all of the Batkids have had some therapy with someone. Even Jason, which is partially why he's so mellow. There's just no way for me to convey that in the story. As always, enjoy and reviews are greatly appreciated, even if it's just to tell me what you think I got wrong.

**Sunday**

"I'm fine!" Tim glared from where he was cocooned in quilts on the couch. "Now give me back my book."

"You were reading a three hundred level college textbook; that is not fun, that is insane." Jason was sitting in one of the many armchairs, well of the reach of both Tim and the bo staff that Jason knew he had somewhere on him. "Besides, you've been reading all day – taking a break to watch TV or hobble to the kitchen for food isn't going to hurt."

"I was drugged, not crippled." Tim said as though explaining something to someone particularly slow. "I would be walking around, except that you, Dick, Bruce and Alfred have all threatened me with everything from grounding to severe pain if I 'over exert' myself."

"And what did Damian say?" Jason knew that Damian would have said something – and whatever it was was sure to be entertaining. Tim scowled and got a pout on his face eerily, and funnily, reminiscence of Damian's. And they claimed they were nothing alike.

"That he'd hide all my books until tomorrow morning and that I wouldn't be able to find them because I wouldn't be allowed to look." Jason nearly started laughing, but stopped when he saw the look on Tim's face. His younger brother _would_ hurt him if he started. That, more than threats of severe pain, would keep Timmy sitting and quiet until he was given the okay from everyone else.

"He knows you too well, bro," Jason snickered. Tim scowled and reached again for his book. Jason held it out of his reach and Tim brought out the bo staff.

"Master Timothy, I have already had to remove your cell phone, shoes, Batarangs, grappling hooks, flash bombs and knives from your person. Do _not_ make me remove your bo staff as well," Alfred scolded, coming in and setting a mug of tea down next to Tim.

"But, Alfred!" Tim protested. "He took my book!"

"I'm sure Master Jason would be glad to return it after you've taken a walk. The weather outside is superb. I would recommend a turn about the gardens."

"I would've taken several turns!" Tim yelped, outraged. "But you've all threatened me with bodily harm if I did!"

"I did no such thing, Master Timothy. I simply stated that it you wished to recover quickly, it would be in your best interest to stay still." Tim sulked.

"That's basically the same thing coming from you, Alf," he muttered. He sent a dirty look at Jason, who wasn't even bothering to try and hide his snickers. He set the book down and walked over to Tim.

"C'mon, Timmy. If the walk doesn't wear you out to much, I'll take you down to the cave and you can blow people up." Tim flipped him the bird, but stood.

"I'm holding you to that," he threatened.

"Please refrain from the rude gestures while you're out, Master Timothy. I do believe Master Bruce is indulging Ms. Vale in a tour as well."

"Again?" Jason asked. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was getting interested."

"No, Ms. Vale is just getting more annoying than usual. I believe I saw Master Bruce mooning over Miss Kyle the other night over Master Dick's video feed." Jason grinned as Alfred got Tim his crutches. He helped him put the leg braces on before following him to the doorway.

"Really? Dad forgot to mention that he saw her," Jason snickered as he and Tim headed out to the garden. They walked slowly, Jason matching his pace to Tim's.

"Dad forgets to mention a lot of things when it comes to Selina," Tim pointed out amiably, his mood improving once they were outside. "Like the fact that he took her to the theater a couple weeks ago."

"Wow. It's getting serious," Jason whistled. "It seems like he's gonna pop the question soon." Tim snorted.

"Jason, don't be funny. Remember who we're talking about."

"Yeah," Jason said reasonably. "But he adopted us, didn't he?"

"Touché," Tim answered. "Touché." There was companionable silence for a few minutes before Tim snorted. "_Mooning_…can you even imagine that?" Jason paused and tried to imagine the formidable image of Batman ogling Catwoman. He couldn't stop the snort of laughter that escaped him just as Bruce and Vale rounded the corner. Bruce was looking slightly annoyed, though he was playing the gentleman so he was standing slightly behind her so she couldn't see. Judging by the slightly infuriating smile she wore, she probably suspected.

"Boys," Bruce greeted. "Where's Dick and Damian? I would've thought they'd be out here as well." Jason shrugged, slinging an arm around Tim's shoulders.

"Dick's probably trying to drag Damian away from his kittens," Jason answered. He gave Vale a polite nod. "Ms. Vale. Wasn't expecting to see you here." She smiled at him.

"Your father was just indulging me in a tour around the gardens," she answered. "I really should recommend you to the Home and Garden section of the paper, Bruce. I'm sure they'd love to do a piece."

"Alfred would be flattered," Bruce answered, placing a hand on her elbow and guiding her past Jason and Tim. Tim barely caught him muttering to Jason, "Make sure he doesn't overexert himself" before continuing around the corner. Tim scowled.

"I'm not a child," he muttered. "I know my limits." Jason snorted.

"Sure you do," he replied. "Which is why we're constantly having to remind you to take it easy when you're injured, right?"

"Oh, shut up," he snapped. He gave a cursory look around the gardens. Jason wasn't fooled for a minute, knowing Tim was checking for danger.

"Wanna go down to the Cave now?" He asked. "Dick picked up a new game." Tim grinned.

"Bet I can kick your ass," he told him, already heading for the mansion.

"Bet you can't," Jason countered, following quickly. "I am the master of video games!"

"Bull!"


	6. Monday

**Disclaimer:** I don't own and I'm mking no money off of this...duh.

**A/N:** Please tell me how you think I'm doing. Even if you think the story is horrible, tell me what you think I'm doing wrong so I can improve. That's why I'm writing this. Cowritten with lovergirl85.

**Monday**

"Explain to me the purpose of this exercise again." Damian crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Dick, who grinned and gave an easy shrug even as he cursed Bruce for leaving this for him to deal with. On a Monday, of all days.

"Normal, social interaction with people your own age. None of us have time to home school you and Alfred has enough work on his plate, since he's putting everything back in the Cave."

Jason was eating a quick breakfast before leaving for his job – he refused to just live off Bruce and he didn't want to get within a hundred feet of an office setting, so he was working as a carpenter for one of the local construction companies – and watching the scene with amusement. It wasn't often that people managed to give Dick the runaround.

"If that is the primary and only objective, there should be no problem with me attending St. Agnes with Colin." Damian's eyes narrowed and his chin jutted forward, both signs that there was no way he was going to back down. He hadn't even wanted to attend school in the first place!

"If you did that, the only person you would interact with would be Colin." Damian's expression said that Dick was right but there was no way he was going to admit it. "Look, give it the year. Besides, if you want to help at Wayne Enterprises, than you need to cultivate contacts with the students at school; all of them are going to inherit whatever business their parents run."

"So this isn't an exercise in socialization so much as manipulation and deception." Damian nodded to himself, pleased with the explanation he'd arrived at, as Dick gaped at him like a fish while Jason snickered into his cereal bowl.

"No! I – Just go to school and we'll talk about it later." Damian's look said he'd believe it when he saw it, but he headed to the garage where Alfred was waiting with the car. Dick slumped back against the counter and gave Jason a half hearted glare, which Jason returned with a bland look of his own.

"Don't look at me, I don't see the problem with sending him to St. Agnes. Besides, it's nice to see the kid run a truck over your logic. Does my heart good."

"I can't figure out how his head works – one minute he's acting like a normal ten year old and the next he's saying things like 'exercise in manipulation and deception'. Who talks like that?" Dick ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

Jason put his cereal bowl in the dish washer and began to tick off fingers, "Batman, Damian, Timmy, Catwoman, Two-face, the Joker if he's coherent and pretty much every smarter than average criminal in our Rogue's Gallery." Jason paused on his way out the door, "Besides, it just proves the kid's intelligent."

"No it proves that Tim's not the only..." Dick trailed off as something more interesting caught his attention. "Where is Tim? I would have thought he'd have been here."

"Tim had an early morning college class, remember? Bruce says he needs a degree in something – he doesn't care in what, but every CEO has had a degree, so Tim is getting one too." Jason didn't bother hiding his thoughts on colleges, and degrees, in general and Dick's mouth flipped up in a grin before vanishing.

"He's still getting over what he was doused with this weekend."

Jason shrugged and leaned against the door frame, willing to delay his departure enough to finish out the conversation. "It's Tim, remember? Mini Bruce? He's not going to let something like a wacked out sedative stop him from attending his first class as a college freshman."

Dick couldn't really argue with that. "Do you need a ride to work since you spent the night here?" Jason considered the offer for a moment – his normal mode of transportation, a truck, was currently sitting in the parking garage at his apartment building.

"You driving in too?" Dick nodded and started to head for the cars as he answered. "Yeah, I do actually need to get back to the penthouse – all my paperwork is there."

"Paperwork?" Jason kept pace with his elder brother. Dick gave him an amused glance.

"Yeah. I am still officially the curator at the Cloister, so I still get the paperwork – and the snarky colleagues asking when I'll be back." A slight pause. "Bruce ask you to hang around for the weekend too, then?"

Jason was fiercely protective of his privacy and would rarely spend the night at the manor, preferring to sleep in his apartment and do his reports from there. Dick was a little better, but still preferred to live on his own as often as possible – though both knew that their rooms were still available to them.

"Sure, if that's what you want to call it." Dick gave a slight hum of acknowledgement as the sarcastic reply. When Bruce "asked" you to do something, it was rarely optional.

* * *

><p>Damian stood at the front of the classroom and glared sullenly out over the sea of faces. He didn't want to be here and, judging by the looks on most of his classmates' faces, they didn't want him to be here either.<p>

"This is Damian Wayne, Bruce Wayne's son." The looks on the boy's faces changed from disinterest to predatory delight and Damian was unpleasantly reminded of a pride of lions that had spotted a wounded gazelle.

By lunch the whispers had turned into comments that he couldn't manage to get away from and that he couldn't defend himself against. It didn't matter to the other boys that Bruce had filed the adoption papers and that he was legally and biologically Bruce's son. What mattered to them was the fact that Bruce was unmarried and that his mother was no longer in the picture - and Damian had only appeared after ten years. By the end of the day, they were asking if Bruce had paid off his mother to keep him away or if she had really sold him to Bruce in order to get rid of him and continue to live her life without the baggage of a child. And that wasn't even going into the whispers about his race.

Damian was silent on the car ride home, refusing to make any noise in response to Alfred's queries about how his day had gone.

"Hey, Damian how'd it-" Damian brushed past Tim, stomping past him up the stairs. A moment later, his door slammed. Tim looked down the stairs at Alfred inquiringly. Alfred simply shrugged. Tim sighed. Since Dick, Jason and Dad were all out of the house, he supposed this left it to him to figure out what happened. He turned and headed back up the stairs.

He gave a single knock on the door and waited. He was rewarded about five minutes later when Damian gave the affirmative he could come in. Tim eased open the door and stepped in, shutting it gently behind him.

Damian was stretched out on the bed, laying on his side facing the wall. His back may have been to Tim, but Tim could tell that his arms were crossed.

"Damian?" He said gently, crossing the room and sitting down beside him. "What happened?"

"I don't want to go back," Damian said flatly, only a little bit of emotion showing through his voice. Tim tentatively put his hand on Damian's arm. He noted the way Damian's knuckles were white from clenching them so hard and the tense way he held his body.

"Why not?" Tim asked, gently running his hand up and down Damian's arm. Damian gave a disdainful sniff, but didn't shrug off his hand.

"The children are childish, the teachers don't know what they're talking about, and the classes are mundane. It is an overall waste of time." Tim chuckled.

"Children acting childish. Imagine that."

"Tt." Tim paused, his hand stilling as he looked down at his younger brother in realization.

"Was it the kids?" He asked. Damian twitched in what might've been a shrug. "Yeah, they're little bastards." Damian's mouth twitched upward, but it was quickly tugged back in a frown.

"They were…they were asking if father had paid off mother in order to keep me away for so long or if she had simply left me to him to get rid of me." Tim swore mentally and without preamble pulled Damian into a sitting position and into a crushing hug. For once, Damian didn't protest. In fact, he clung to Tim tightly.

"You know Dad would have taken you if he had known about you," Tim said, shifting so that he was leaning against the wall and Damian was leaning against him. He focused on the first insult - the second insult was too close to the truth to refute.

"Yes," Damian murmured. Tim began stroke Damian's hair absent-mindedly.

"I had to go there for a little bit," Tim said. "They kept asking me why my parents were so desperate to get rid of me." Damian tilted his head back to look at him. Tim nodded. "They're little monsters." He grinned slightly. "But my old classmates are pretty much kissing my feet right now because I'm supposed to inherit Wayne Enterprises." He paused. "And they still believe that I'm engaged to Tam, but unless we can get Vale to print another article that we're not, that won't be going away."

"It's been nearly six months," Damian pointed out. "Why hasn't it gone away?" Tim snorted, but secretly he was pleased he managed to distract Damian, if only temporarily.

"Dad and Lucius are prominent public figures," Tim told him. "I'd be surprised if it _had_ gone away." Damian hummed and Tim sighed. "Look, Damian. Kids are cruel. Especially rich ones. I'm not saying all rich kids are, but for the most part they are. That's the first thing you've got to understand about them. Secondly, you're allowed to fight back." Here Tim glanced at him sharply. "And I don't mean in the physical sense. Be subtle about it. They'll pick it up. If there's one thing they're good at its subtlety and manipulation. They may not like you, but they'll know you can hold your own and you're willing to take them on." Tim paused. "Or you could try the 'turn the other cheek' route, but somehow I don't think that fits your style."

Damian snorted.

"Didn't think so. And thirdly, you're a Wayne. You're Bruce's son and he didn't buy you and he's not paying off your mom. You chose this life and even if you didn't, he'd still love and keep fighting for you. That's just what he does."

"What about my mother?" Damian asked quietly. For the first time ever, Tim wished Bruce would stop dancing around with Selina and just pop the question. She would claim she wasn't mother material, but she also wouldn't ignore a ten-year-old in need of one either. At least, he didn't think she would. At any rate, she'd done a decent job to Tim at times…when she wasn't holding him hostage or using him against Batman. Or Dick with Barbara. Well…she wasn't that much better than Selina. Maybe he should just call Tam…she knew about them and she liked Damian, for some odd reason.

"I think every mother holds at least a small amount of love for their child," Tim answered. He thought that was diplomatic. Damian looked a little happier at his answer, but still upset. Tim made a mental note to have Bruce talk to him later.

"I think Alfred is making cookies," Tim said idly. Damian gave him a look.

"Drake, I don't see how cookies is supposed to make emotional pain go away. That is an absolutely idiotic solution." Tim grinned, not offended in the slightest. Damian hardly ever called him Drake anymore. Mostly when he was joking. And the fact that he had admitted to emotional pain and not even realizing it…they were making excellent progress.

"I hear from all my female acquaintances that it works," Tim told him seriously. "I vote we go give it a try. My day sucked too." Damian hopped off the bed and followed him. Tim was glad that he was able to ditch the crutches while in the house, though they were never far away just in case.

"What was wrong with your day?" Damian asked. "I thought you were looking forward to it?" Tim shrugged.

"It's a public campus," he told Damian. "Everyone knows who our dad is, so one third of the student population is trying to get close to me to get close to Dad, another third resents me because of him and the last third is too intimidated to try and get close because of who Dad is. Plus, I have to run around 'crippled' so that sucks, too." He paused. "And most of my professors are liberal, so they think that I'm evil because of who Dad is." He winked at Damian. "They don't like rich people."

They reached the kitchen. Alfred didn't look surprised to see them. He simply handed over the beaters and placed the cookie sheets in the oven. Tim grinned as he licked the batter from the beater. Tim's grin grew wider as he watched Damian try and work his tongue around the beater to get all the dough, a look of intense concentration on his face, and succeeded in getting a little on his nose. Alfred was not-so-subtle in taking a picture. Damian huffed, but didn't say anything. If Alfred wanted to take pictures, then Alfred would take pictures and he would probably frame them a put them on the wall or Father would take them to the office. But Damian couldn't do anything about it. Because Alfred _always_ got his way.

"Still haven't got it down yet, Damian?" Tim teased as he licked the last of the dough from the beater up. Damian glowered.

"I don't understand how you get your tongue around the back and still expect to stay clean," he griped.

"Practice," Tim said wisely. "Years and years of practice."

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry Mr. Powers, but the proposal doesn't line up with Wayne Enterprises mission or its goal – to be a company that works towards making life better for everyone." Bruce watched the man closely, willing him to make a mistake, any mistake. He suspected that Powers was behind Cain's attempt to kidnap his children, but the man was smart and Cain had dropped off the radar – no one in Gotham was willing to admit that they had heard from him in years and Batman had been pressing for answers. Whatever hole he had crawled into, it was a deep one.<p>

_But not deep enough_. Batman might not kill, but he had a way of making you wish you were dead and Cain had thoroughly ticked him off. You did not go after his sons. Ever.

"That's too bad Mr. Wayne. Opportunities only come for a limited time – I'd hate to see you lose this one." Powers stood and extended his hand to Bruce, a small smirk gracing his features. "You'll regret missing out on this chance."

"I think I'll manage to contain my dismay if you merge with one of our competitors." After all, there were very few companies that would be willing to agree to this sort of merger and only one was actually bigger than Wayne Enterprises. And Talia might be an abysmal failure in the empathy and normal human behaviors department, but she wasn't so stupid as to risk her multibillion dollar company on a crackpot scheme that would drive any business to ruin in less than five years.

Bruce waited until the doors had closed behind Powers before sitting back down, fingers tapping against the desk idly as he thought. He had been threatened, but it had been subtly, and if the boys hadn't been attacked he might have even dismissed the words as nothing more than from a disappointed businessman.

He opened up his computer and began to research his suspected enemy again – so far, what he had found was interesting; every single time that Powers had merged with a business or had one get in his way, there was a correlating instance of sabotage at the company or the CEO's family taking an unexpected 'vacation'. Bruce's eyes narrowed and he reached for the phone; he had some calls to make.


	7. Tuesday

**Disclaimer**: See previous six chapters - nothing has changed from last weekend.

**A/N**: Cowritten with Lovergirl85 - go check out her stuff. Also, Gotham's geography is all according to my head and may or may not have basis in "real world" Gotham. Mostly do to the fact I can't find a halfway decent up to date map - all the ones that I find are pre Crisis. So, any suggestions would be welcome. And, as always, review.

**Tuesday**

Damian kept his composure today. Kind of. He only insulted one teacher when he got fed up and he'd only insulted three-quarters of his classmates as opposed to the entire classroom. He was relieved when the school day was over. He was annoyed when both Dick and Jason were there to pick him up. He was even more annoyed when the teacher asked to speak with them in lieu of speaking his father.

It was the teacher he'd insulted. Joy.

Jason waited in the hallway with Damian while Dick went in to talk with Miss Cummins. Dick was the socialite and Jason hated school atmospheres.

"So what'd you do?" Jason asked, sliding down to sit on the floor. Damian loved how out of place Jason looked. He was wearing his carpentry clothes, which meant he had probably just come from his job and sawdust kept falling off him. Jason had helped it along by brushing it off as he walked through the corridors.

"I called her an egotistical peacock who wouldn't know a compound sentence if it bit her on the nose," Damian answered, not looking at his older brother, opting to stare at the trophy case across the hall instead.

"Ah," Jason nodded. "English teacher. Way overrated. Was that all?" Damian shrugged.

"No," he answered. "I might've also called my classmates some less than savory names." Jason snorted. Damian scowled at him.

"Sorry, kid," Jason chuckled. "But you're the only ten-year-old I know who uses words like 'savory' and 'egotistical.'" He paused. "Well, Timmy might've. But I didn't really know him then, so I can't tell you." Damian smiled slightly, then looked worried.

"What will Father say?" He asked. Jason shrugged.

"Dunno," he replied. "But knowing him, he'll find it funny even while he's scolding you. I wouldn't worry too much." He looked at his watch. "Geez, it's been five minutes already! What are they talking about?" Damian snorted and sat down beside him and pulled off his tie, throwing it across the hall. "Don't lose that."

"Why?"

"Dunno. It sounded like an older brother thing to say."

About ten minutes later, Dick came out followed by the teacher and laying on the full Dick Grayson charm. She looked greatly appeased and even had a small smile for Damian when she looked at him. Jason and Damian stood.

"Damian would like to apologize for his earlier behavior," Dick smiled brilliantly. Damian opened his mouth to object, but Dick's hand came down on his shoulder, squeezing slightly in warning.

"I'm very sorry for my earlier behavior," Damian muttered, glowering at the floor.

"I appreciate that, Damian," Miss Cummins said, warmly. "I'll try to be more patient, as well. I didn't realize how difficult of a transition this must be for you." Damian shot a look at Dick. What had he told her?

"Thank you, ma'am," Damian said, because he knew how to play this game. Dick smiled and held his hand out for her to shake.

"We'll be heading home now," he said. "Thank you for your time." Dick guided Damian away from the teacher, Jason coming up on Damian's other side.

"Where's the car?" Damian asked when they got outside. He was at least trying to wait until they were in private before chewing Dick out for whatever it was he said to the teacher.

"Didn't bring it," Jason said cheerfully. "You, little man, are going to experience the wonders of walking." Damian stared at him blandly.

"I swing from rooftops at night fighting thugs. I don't think I need any more exercise, Todd." Jason laughed.

"Walking is relaxing," Dick cut in, just as cheerfully. "It gives you an opportunity to see stuff you might not see otherwise."

"Plus, your big brothers wanted to make sure you got home safely after what happened this weekend," Jason chimed in. Damian glared at them both.

"By walking me through exposed streets?" Jason and Dick looked at each other before shrugging.

"We're here," Dick said, as if that settled the matter. Damian wanted to smack him, but refrained. They were in public after all.

"Jason and Tim were there as well and look how well _that_ turned out," Damian muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets. They were walking down a residential street. The school really wasn't that far Wayne Manor, only a few miles and it was fairly nice day. Damian began trying to make his outfit as casual as he could. He untucked his shirt and shoved his tie in his pocket and then turned to glare at Dick.

"What did you tell her?" He demanded. Dick looked down at him in amusement.

"Just that you recently went through a custody change and were having trouble adjusting to your new life," Dick answered easily. They were coming up to a playground and they paused a for a moment.

"Jason, look!" Dick sounded delighted. "The Fun Sucker Police missed this tire swing!"

"A what swing?" Damian stared at Dick in disbelief before following his gaze to a tire held up by three chains. "What is the point of that?" Jason and Dick both fixed him with a look. Damian was starting to get a really bad feeling and began subtly backing away.

"You've never been on a tire swing before?" Dick asked.

"Never ever?" Jason reiterated. Damian cautiously shook his head.

"I don't think that me getting on a tire swing is really necessary to my childhood development – " Damian began, trying to head off whatever was going to happen, because Jason and Dick were starting to get a look their eyes that he _really_ didn't like. "Grayson…Todd…don't you dare come near me-"

"I got him!" Dick yelled, lunging and sling Damian over his shoulder. Damian shouted and began squirming, yelling every profanity he knew of at his older brothers. Jason almost felt sorry for the elderly couple walking down the sidewalk across the street. But then he followed his brothers across the tire swing, where Dick was wrestling Damian onto it.

"C'mon, Damian," Dick cajoled, even as he forced Damian into a sitting position. "It'll be fun."

"Grayson, the last time you said something would be fun, I ended up nearly falling to my death," Damian snarled, trying to yank his foot out of Dick's hand. Dick pouted.

"I caught you," he pointed out. "And admit it, you liked the trapeze." Damian growled and nearly succeeded on kicking Dick on the nose if Jason hadn't stepped in. Together, they managed to force Damian to sit.

"Okay, now hold the chain in front of you," Dick instructed, ignoring his youngest brother's look of pure death he was sending his way. Damian acquiesced, clearly hoping that the compliant route would get him out of this ridiculous situation. "Hold it tight, now." He looked at Jason. "You ready?"

"Shouldn't you be asking _me_ that?" Damian demanded.

"Nah, cause this is happening no matter what," Dick replied cheerfully. "And you're as ready as you can be." Damian was starting to fear for his life. The fear only intensified when Dick pushed the swing up and began moving in a wide circle, still holding Damian up in the air. Then he let go, allowing Damian's weight and momentum to continue carrying him the circle. When he reached Jason, Jason gave an almighty shove causing Damian to pick up speed and then Dick did the same thing when Damian swung around to pass him.

He was moving rapidly, the world a blur around him. If he shut his eyes, he experienced a feeling of continual weightlessness that was disconnected from the world. The wind was blowing on his face and he was treated to the grinning faces of Dick and Jason each time he swung towards them.

And he was _not_ having fun, dammit.

Finally, they stuck out their hands to slap at the tire swing when it went past them to begin slowing it down and Dick finally grabbed the chains, bringing the horrible device to a halt. Damian tried to get off and would've fallen flat on his face is Jason hadn't caught him. Jason swung the younger boy up on his back, indulging in the urge he'd had ever since Tim was attacked. He saw Dick smirk and subtly flipped him off.

"Do all of father's adopted sons have an insufferable need for physical contact?" Damian sighed in a long-suffering voice, but nevertheless tightened his grip on Jason's shoulders.

"Dude," Jason said. "Don't complain. We could get Tim in on it, too. He'd do just to bug you, you know." Damian scowled, but was interrupted by a gleeful shout.

"ICE CREAM!"Damian stared at Dick in disbelief as the older man shot down the street in the direction of a offensively yellow truck playing tinny music.

"This is one of Gotham's most terrifying crime fighters?" He deadpanned as he watched Dick chase down the ice cream truck. Jason snorted as they watched Dick buy ice cream.

"You should see him when Flash visits, Baby Bird," Jason told him. "Or vice versa. He's like a three-year-old on three gallons of ice cream." Dick came bounding back to them and handed Damian a fudge bar and opened Jason's for him. They continued down the street, Jason still carrying Damian, who was pretending not to enjoy the fudge bar or the attention.

"So, is this what he's like when he's only hopped up on a fudge bar?" Damian asked cynically as Dick began bouncing back and forth and eyeing the light posts in way that would probably not bode well for the light posts - or at least their horizontal sections. Damian could see the headlines now, "Son of Billionare Destroys Century Old Lights".

"Yup," Jason confirmed. "Dick! You're making me the responsible one! Cut it out and stay off the light posts!" Dick pouted and returned to their side. Jason briefly considered passing Damian off to Dick, if only to make him behave, before deciding that Dick had more than his fair share of time getting to indulge on older brother feelings.

Across the street, Cain stared at them in disbelief. The display was so sweet it was sickening. He was certain he'd developed diabetes on the spot. And really, if they weren't in public, Cain could've grabbed them several times over already. He shook his head in disbelief. They may be the scourge of Gotham's underworld, but sometimes Cain couldn't help but privately feel that Batman might've raised a couple of idiots.


	8. The second Wednesday

**Disclaimer: **No money, no ownership, no problems… sigh**. **I wish I had problems.

**A/N: **Again, co-written with lovergirl85 – check her stuff out. And as always, please review. Also, Bruce is slightly OOC towards the end. Attribute it to whatever you what.

**Wednesday**

Tim glanced at his schedule and then sighed, using his crutches to hobble towards the school building. Whose bright idea was it that he pretend to be crippled for a year…oh wait, his. He added that to his mental file of 'things that are reporters' fault and that they must be punished for'. He hated the limited mobility the crutches and the leg brace gave him, but he couldn't just miraculously recover.

At least he was taking classes that were close to his actual skill level – he had managed to test out of all of his lower level classes and some of the other freshmen courses. That meant that he was the youngest in some of the more advanced classes, but he could handle that just as long as he wasn't bored. Right now he was heading for Comp 345, which was the one computer class that had looked both beneficial and interesting.

_What the -? _Tim blinked as movement from the roof behind him caught his attention. He quickly began moving and ducked around the side of the building, already pressing the releases on the leg braces. He managed to get one leg free before Cain dropped from the rooftop to land in front of him, a fist already headed towards his face.

Tim jerked back, the punch missing him by an inch and allowed momentum to carry him backwards, away from the other man. Cain was fast and Tim knew that he was outmatched – especially since he was hindered by both his civilian identity and the still attached leg brace. So he hit his emergency transponder and turned to run, knowing that in this case, discretion was most definitely the better part of valor.

Cain grabbed his shoulder and swung him around even as Tim shoved his arm up to break the hold at the same time he used a partial leg sweep to knock Cain off balance. It worked, in that it knocked Cain off balance, but he hadn't released his grip on Tim, so Tim was also thrown off balance. Which was the only opening Cain needed to hit him with a nerve strike designed to render him unconscious – which it did.

Cain quickly grabbed the unconscious teenager and retreated to his getaway vehicle – a small green sedan with enough truck space to keep a few unconscious people. Which was what he was planning on doing anyway – he wasn't going to have a vengeful Bat-family on his hands with anything less than two hostages.

* * *

><p>Damian had made it two and a half days before deciding that he was done with this: these children were more vicious than anything the League of Assassins had ever done to him. So he waited patiently until lunch and then slipped out of the building, easily avoiding the cameras and staff. He was going to go back, he really was, but he needed to breathe.<p>

He slipped over to the back of the grounds, making sure to leave a trail that his brothers could find if they needed to (paranoia was a wonderful thing, no?), and began to wander through the woods. He kicked absently at some leaves, trying to figure out exactly why he needed to be here. He could study by himself at home or he could go to school with Colin.

He stiffened as a twig snapped behind him, sending birds into the air. There weren't any animals in these woods big enough to make that sort of noise. He whirled just as the net shot through the trees and enveloped him. He started to struggle out of the net and froze as hundreds of hooks ripped into his clothes and skin.

"I wouldn't if I were you." Damian glared at Cain as he walked up to him, towering over the boy. "You're not going to be much good to your brother if you're passed out from blood loss."

"What? You're lying!" Cain merely quirked an eyebrow at him and grabbed the net and began to drag the youngest Robin away from the school. "My father is going to kill you!"

"Only if he can find you. And he won't." Cain reached the car and carelessly tossed Damian, still in the net, on top of the still unconscious Tim. "Try not to cut him up too much when you try to get out of the net." Cain pulled out a strip of metal and quickly twisted it around the top of the net, cinching it closed. "Not that you'll be able to."

As the trunk slammed shut, Damian tried to roll off his brother – no need for both of them to be cut up.

* * *

><p>Shadowhawk swore as he landed beside the building and took in the scene in front of him. Tim's backpack and one of his leg braces were on the ground. Shadowhawk activated his comlink. "He's gone. Dammit!"<p>

~We'll find him.~ Oracle's voice was flat, her computerized voice masking her anxiety. Shadowhawk didn't bother to reply, already swinging towards the cave. "We have to."

"Where's Dick and Bruce?" Shadowhawk landed on one of the buildings near Wayne Tower and scowled at nothing. The city spread out before him but he wasn't interested in the view – his two younger brothers were hidden somewhere in the mess of buildings and streets. And Jason wasn't ready to lose them – not when he was just getting to know them.

~They're both stuck in a business meeting. And since no one has reported Tim missing, there's no way to get them out of it.~ Oracle flew out the window as Barbara's worry leaked through.

~Then this will work.~ Alfred's voice cut through the air. ~Master Damian's school has just called. He went missing during lunch.~

Shadowhawk launched himself off the roof and landed in the alley, pulling on his civilian clothes. The downside to using a bike was that he couldn't go zipping around as Shadowhawk at twelve thirty in the afternoon. He was just a little conspicuous, even in Gotham. "I'm heading over right now. It was probably Cain unless there are two people running around the city that independently decided to target Bruce Wayne's sons."

He was halfway to the school by the time Alfred managed to pick up Bruce and Dick, mind racing as he came up with various scenarios, none of them good.

~We're on our way.~ Bruce's voice was already descending into Batman's gravelly tones, his anger evident. ~Jason, sneak onto the grounds and try and figure out where Damian was extracted from. Dick is heading over to join you.~

"And what will you be doing?" Jason didn't bother to keep the anger out of his voice. He wasn't mad at Bruce, he was just a convenient target to lash out at.

~Being useless and talking to the administrators, police and reporters.~ If there was ever a time that Bruce hated not being able to be Batman all of the time, this was it. Jason winced and parked his bike near the back wall of the school.

"Sorry." He vaulted the wall. "Security hasn't upgraded in the last six years." He landed in a crouch and began to move forward, scanning the forest area for clues.

~He headed for the woods.~ Dick's voice was grim and Jason could almost see him following Damian's earlier route, face a mask of concentration. Jason angled himself back towards the wall and scaled it, perching on the fence as he examined the old service road that bordered this part of the property. Dick would be able to trace Damian as far as the woods, at the very least. Jason was going to figure out how his kidnapper had gotten him away from the grounds.

* * *

><p>Tim groaned as consciousness returned, immediately wishing it hadn't. Nerve strikes tended to leave the recipient with an unbearable headache.<p>

"Drake?" Why was someone calling him by his old name? "Drake? Tim!" Tim eyes snapped open as he identified the voice. Damian. Shit. Tim rolled over as much as he was able in the confined space of the – car trunk? How in the hell -?

"Cain." The word was equal parts curse and confirmation. Cain must have dumped him in the truck and then grabbed Damian. Tim squinted, but there wasn't any light for him to see by. Well, first things first – get some light to see by. Tim quickly maneuvered himself around and delivered a kick to the taillight, sending it out of its designated spot and onto the road. Then he took in his surroundings: a completely empty car truck. Well, except for the breathing pile of netting.

"Damian?" Tim scooted over towards the netting and grabbed it, almost immediately releasing it with a hiss of pain.

"Who else would it be?" Damian's voice was pinched and after a couple of seconds, Tim realized why – the hundreds of hooks had been twined in with the strands of netting and Tim could only wince as he realized that several of them had to be digging into Damian's body. There was no way that the younger boy could be sitting without putting pressure on at least some of the hooks.

"Just a sec." Tim searched his pockets and managed to pull out his pocket knife, which was worrying; Cain hadn't even bothered to search him for any weapons or even tried to restrain him. Tim tried to cut the net and bit back another curse as he discovered that the net had a metal rope core. Nothing short of bolt cutters was getting Damian out of that net. "D, I can't cut the net open and…" a quick tug at the opening of the net was also fruitless. "he's cinched the top shut pretty good. Sorry."

"It doesn't hurt that much." Tim quirked an eyebrow, even if Damian couldn't see it. The kid was lying through his teeth, but there wasn't anything Tim could do about it at the moment. He frowned as the fact that Damian's speech was slurring slightly registered. He did another quick search and then cursed again when he realized that Cain had had the foresight to at least remove the locators.

"Man, I am never going to hear the end of this…" Tim could only imagine what, exactly, Jason would have to say about this. Not to mention Dick. Or worse yet, the Teen Titans. Hell, even Alfred would have something to say. Damian shifted and then let out a small sound of pain, which told Tim that however much the kid was hurting, it was bad.

"How long have we been moving?" May as well try to get his mind off the pain and Tim really wanted to know, if only to try and gauge how long he was unconscious for.

"Thirty minutes. After he closed the trunk, we drove for five minutes to the east, made a left turn followed two minutes later by a right turn, hit two stoplights and a stop sign and got on the interstate. We have not yet exited." Yeah, definitely slurring speech patterns – but Tim had no idea what Damian had been given or when. Tim pulled up his mental street map of Gotham and groaned.

"We're headed to Bludhaven. Why are we headed to Bludhaven?" Tim cocked his head to the side. "It still hasn't been rebuilt. There's nothing… Oh, that's why we're headed to Bludhaven."

"Brilliant deduction." Damian's tone turned scathing. "Any more obvious solutions you'd like to contribute?"

"Nah, I'm good. He take your locator?" There was a long pause and Tim could see Damian freeze in shock.

"No… He just tossed me in here without searching me." Damian began to squirm, trying to get to his locator with as little pain as possible. Tim kicked out the other taillight, both to up the odds of get a cop to pull them over and to be a brat. Playing hostage got old after the first time. "Got it!"

Damian immediately began to fiddle with the small device, managing to activate it just as the car pulled off the interstate. "Hide it!" Tim hissed, a feeling of dread blossoming in his gut. He stripped off the leg brace and gripped it tightly, knowing that trying to attack someone from the trunk of a car was chancy at best. The car came to a stop and the two boys heard the sound of a door opening before the car started up again.

The car came to a stop and footsteps echoed through a large space. The sound stopped and Cain gave a bark of laughter. "You woke up earlier than I thought you would; that should have kept you out for another half hour at least."

"Now, drop the leg brace and cooperate, because your younger brother can't defend himself – and I have a gun." A meaningful pause. "I'd hate to have to make your father relive what happened to Vesper, wouldn't you?"

Tim dropped the leg brace like it was red hot. "Fine. It's dropped." The trunk popped open and rough hands grabbed Tim and yanked him from the car as Cain looked on. Tim struggled, but froze when Cain pulled the net out of the car, dropping Damian on the ground and eliciting a yelp of pain from the boy. "Let him out of there Cain! Unhh!" Tim grunted as he was clouted on the back of the head.

"No, I don't think so. Not until I have you secured, at any rate." Tim was shoved in the direction of what looked like offices, Cain swinging Damian up over his shoulder and bringing up the rear. Tim glanced back and then frowned. The other man… he seemed familiar… "Shrike."

"Yeah, it seems that the best way to get Nightwing to come out is by kidnapping to brats from Gotham. After all, he's running around pretending to be Batman, isn't he?"

Tim didn't even grace that with an answer, but meekly complied to the shoves until they were in a smaller area off of the main warehouse. A glance around the room confirmed his suspicions and he eyed the trapdoor in the floor with trepidation because the only way Cain would be tossing them in there was if the trapdoor, with its shiny new padlock and hinges, was the only exit – a suspicion confirmed when he sees the confined spaces warning posted on the wall behind it.

Shrike twisted his arms up behind his back, using a plastic zip tie to bind his elbows and then his wrists together. Cain dropped Damian and Tim winced, knowing that that had to hurt, if the way Damian curled in on himself was any indication.

"Cain, let him out of there." Tim doubts the plea will do any good, but tries anyway. Cain ignores him as he opens the trapdoor. "He's a kid."

"I know who he's related to, rich boy, and I'm not risking it." Cain at least gently lowered Damian into the hole – they'll barely be able to fit in there, Tim noted as Shrike gave him a shove and he barely managed to twist in order to avoid landing on his hands and back. As it is, he landed on his shoulder and if the popping sound and sudden rush of pain was any indicator, it'd been dislocated.

Tim managed to get over next to Damian just as the door dropped shut and plunged them back into total darkness.

* * *

><p>~Robin's locater just started transmitting.~<p>

Jason was already running back to his bike, pulling out his comlink and shoving it in his ear. "Where?"

Oracle paused and then continued, ~It's an old pump house on the Dresherhaven Canal.~

~The one where you and Dinah found me with Shrike and his goons?~ Dick's voice cut in, nearly trembling with fury. Not that Jason could blame him. That was either one hell of a coincidence or someone was trying to rattle them.

~The very same.~ Oracle isn't sounding to happy either, not that Jason can blame her. Besides Dick and Bruce, she's the one that's been in the game the longest and sees herself as everyone's "older sister". And from what he remembers, that one nearly ended with Dinah – Babs's best friend – getting strangled and then crushed. So no, not good memories.

~Do you guys need backup?~ Stephanie's voice filters over the air and Jason honestly considers it for a moment. She's come a long way since she started the Batgirl gig.

~No. We've got this, but if we need backup, we'll call.~ Dick's back and on his bike, if the background noise is any indication. ~Thanks Batgirl.~

~No problem. Just bring them home.~

~We will.~ Jason refrains from speculating the condition they'll be in when they do find them in order to concentrate on the road.

It normally took around a half hour to make it from the outskirts of Gotham to the Canal in Bludhaven. Jason made it in ten. Dick pulled in right behind him and the two slipped into one of the older buildings and quickly donned their costumes.

A quick recon confirmed that the easiest and stealthiest approach would be from the canal to one of the old drainage pipes.

~Batman is on his way. ~ Nightwing – Dick had gone with his old costume to avoid confusion in the middle of a fight – and Shadowhawk exchanged glances. Even going its fastest, the Batmobile is still a good ten minutes away…and a lot can happen to two people in ten minutes.

"We're going in to scout around. The old drainage pipes on the north side." Nightwing slipped forward, into the water as Shadowhawk follows him.

"I don't know why you told her, he's going to drop through the skylight, as always." Shadowhawk moved carefully, not wanting to disturb the water more than he had to and possibly alert his brothers' kidnapper.

Nightwing didn't deign to answer that, choosing instead to scale a ladder that led into one of the old wheel stations. Shadowhawk followed, crouching next to him as they examined the lay of the land.

"Find them and try to get them out quietly." Nightwing wasn't saying anything that Shadowhawk didn't agree with. If Cain still had Tim and Damian, he'd done something to them that probably necessitated, at the very least, a trip to Leslie and a few days in bed.

"No arguments from me. Anything that would hold baby bird is probably not pretty." Shadowhawk made for the ceiling girders, the more theoretically more secure location helping to ease his nerves. This entire thing was off. There was no way that they should even made it into the building without alerting Cain.

A man dressed in an outfit of yellow and red exited one of the hastily constructed office spaces and even from thirty feet up, Shadowhawk could tell he was pissed. "That's not Cain."

~No, he goes by Shrike. I've had some encounters with him before.~ Nightwing was crouching in the shadows of some industrial forklifts and Shadowhawk could see him shifting in anticipation of jumping the other man.

"Don't. He might know where the birds are." Shadowhawk heard Nightwing's grumble of annoyance, but the other hero didn't move, waiting until Shrike had vanished into one of the small rooms. Nightwing slipped after him as Shadowhawk scanned the older building: part warehouse, part pumping station, there were enough nooks and crannies that hiding – for both sides – was a simple matter of moving to a large enough piece of equipment.

"I know you're out there." Shadowhawk and Nightwing both froze as Cain's voice echoed through the building. "So save us both the trouble of hunting you down and come out now." Shrike appeared in the doorway again, holding a weakly struggling pile of what looked like netting. "Or I'm sure Shrike could do something appropriately nasty to the boy here."

Damian.

"What the hell did you do to him?" Nightwing's voice was a low growl of anger, but Shrike didn't seem to care, his smirk growing as he dropped the youngest Wayne on the floor. Shadowhawk gave a hiss of anger at the pained yelp that cut through the air, but didn't move. Better that Nightwing was the only one caught – someone had to find Tim anyway.

"You don't remember my net, Nightwing?" Shrike sounded casual, but Nightwing tensed. He was way too smug. "That's all it is – well, and some of the hooks were coated with a sedative and neural amplifier."

"You drugged him and increased his sensitivity to pain?" Shadowhawk paused at the pure rage in Nightwing's voice, than shrugged and kept moving. He was reasonably sure that his older brother wouldn't kill the assassin. Now _him_, that was a different matter entirely. Shadowhawk stayed in the rafters even as Nightwing launched himself at Shrike, escrima sticks out.

Shrike was forced away from his hostage as Nightwing pursued him, anger giving his attacks a little extra power. Shadowhawk took advantage of the distraction to land on the floor next to the net and begin to snip through the strands. He cut the bare minimum of strands required before gently pulling Damian out, holding him close.

"That's where you were hiding." Shadowhawk tensed as he felt the gun dig into the back of his neck, but didn't move. Damian was groggy at best and in no condition to attempt any sort of maneuver and he wasn't going to risk getting him shot. "Should have just staked him out in the middle of the floor – you would have come like moths to a flame."

"Where's Tim?" Shadowhawk adjusted his grip as Damian began squirming, obviously trying to escape. "Easy little D, I've got you."

Damian subsided, curling in closer to the security that was offered, and Shadowhawk turned his head in order to give Cain a scathing glare. "What the hell did you douse him with?"

"It's Shrike's net, ask him." Cain shrugged carelessly, but Shadowhawk could see the tightness around his eyes and mouth.

"You ask him, because if he dies because of an overdose, I guarantee that this will be the last job you ever take." Shadowhawk's voice was calm, but that did nothing to hide the underlying menace. "Also, _where is Tim_?"

"Right above you." Cain looked up in time to see a boot collide with his face and Shadowhawk watched in bemusement as Red Robin and Batgirl landed next to him.

"I thought I told you we'd call if we need backup?"

Batgirl shrugged, a brief smirk appearing on her face. "Proxy and I decided that if you really needed backup, than you wouldn't be able to call. So we assumed that you would need back up, sooner or later and figured we'd already be in position." There really was no arguing with that sort of logic. "And look, I ran into Red Robin on the way! Cool huh?"

"Yeah, cool." Shadowhawk agreed, standing. "And thanks for finding him."

"No problem. He was almost totally free anyway." Batgirl kept her voice low, but Shrike was too busy trying to avoid being beaten to death to pay them any attention anyway.

"You think we should tell him to wrap this up sometime soon or what?" Red Robin kept a wary eye on a seemingly unconscious Cain, not trusting the man to stay down.

Shadowhawk seemed to agree. "Nightwing, find out what he coated the hooks with so we can get an antidote!"

Nightwing didn't acknowledge the order, other than to start moving a little bit faster. Shrike couldn't keep up the pace, but he had never been quite as fast as Nightwing had been. Shadowhawk knelt back down and began to look at the younger boy's injuries, mentally tallying every bruise and cut, making sure that other than the drugs – possibly deadly enough on their own – there was nothing wrong with him.

"Is he going to be ok?" Batgirl was watching, eyes wide and anxious, and Shadowhawk remembered that she was Damian's preferred patrol partner, besides _his_ Batman.

Shadowhawk nodded and began to pull out some bandages. "He should be fine, his breathing is good, but I want to know what that net was coated in."

"I'll find out." They all jumped at the gravelly voice behind them then relaxed as Batman swept past them, fury evident in every movement of his body. "Nightwing. Go check on the boy."

Nightwing looked about ready to protest but moved towards them, leaving the field to the older crime fighter. "Let's get him up to the roof." They retreated to the roof, Shadowhawk still holding onto his younger brother. Red Robin and Batgirl both put cuffs on Cain, but they weren't counting on it holding him. Besides, they had other worries at the moment.

"Is he alright?" Red Robin didn't even wait until he had cleared the skylight before asking the question. Shadowhawk sent him a disgusted look as he began to wrap the bandages around Damian's wounds. "I have no idea yet. I need to know what he was drugged with."

"Sorry." Red Robin's voice was contrite, but Shadowhawk ignored him as he finished wrapping up the bandages. Nightwing turned on his brother. "Are you alright?"

"I wasn't the one that wound up in a drugged net." Red Robin danced away when Nightwing tried to move closer. "I'm fine. Take care of him."

~Go back to the cave – all of you.~ They exchanged glances and then complied; when Batman was in this sort of mood, nothing short of immediate obedience was acceptable. Nightwing took Red Robin, the two still arguing about getting him checked out, as Shadowhawk pulled Damian in close and floored it – if a cop tried to pull them over, there was no way they were going to be able to keep up.

* * *

><p>"Let me look at your shoulder!" Dick had managed to get Tim onto the examination table, but that was about as far as it had gotten. "And your chin!"<p>

"I'm fine, Dick; it was dislocated, not broken!" Tim scowled at his older brother, shifting so that he could watch Jason try to get Damian to at least open his eyes. Whatever the drug had been – Stephanie was running blood work – it was keeping the youngest Wayne completely compliant and in an almost coma like state.

"It was Rohypnal." Batman strode into the light, pausing in front of his youngest and briefly running a hand down his cheek. Damian barely responded, forehead wrinkling. "Stephanie, you'll need to hook up an IV in order to keep him hydrated."

"How long is it going to be in his system?" Stephanie was all business, already moving from the computer to the medical supply cabinet.

"At least another six hours – assuming it doesn't react negatively with the neural amplifier." Tim had paled considerably. Jason snarled and punched the nearest available surface. Bruce turned to Tim.

"Was anything else introduced to his system?" Tim shook his head in instant denial before he hesitated.

"I don't think so - but I was unconcious for thirty minutes of the trip, Damian described the route taken and I was conscious for the rest of it. The only time unaccounted for was the thirty seconds it took to move Damian from the hole we were in to the main room."

"Do you want me to call Leslie and have her come by?" Stephanie asked hesitantly. She knew that after everything, Bruce was still hesitant to trust Leslie. After all, the doctor had nearly let her die.

"Do it. I want her to look over both of them." Stephanie nodded and moved away from them, speaking softly into the communicator as Proxy rerouted the call.

"I'm fine!" Tim snapped, looking exasperated as he shrugged off Dick as his brother continued to fuss with the sling. Jason's eyebrow went up – Tim normally wasn't this outspoken, preferring to go the passive aggressive mode of noncompliance.

"Did he inject you with anything Tim?" Bruce moved closer and picked up a needle and syringe, clearly intending to draw blood – it was a sad day when you automatically attributed moodiness to either a drug or toxin. Unless you lived in Gotham. Then it was Tuesday.

Tim shifted away from the needle but answered the question. "Not while I was awake – but it is a forty five minute drive from the college to Damian's school, so maybe."

"Then hold still and let me take a blood sample." Bruce's voice is patient, for Bruce, and Dick and Jason exchanged semi guilty looks – they should have done that when they had taken a sample of Damian's blood. Tim shifted a little further to the left, clearly intending to bolt, when Stephanie dropped onto the examining table next to him, trapping him. Tim glared at her but that only served to make her give him a sunny smile.

Bruce used the distraction to get the blood required and Jason quickly stuck a band aid on the needle prick as Bruce moved to the computer. In true Jason fashion, the band aid was a Barbie one. Tim reached to pick at it, clearly hoping to replace it with one of the plain ones, when Stephanie grabbed his hand.

"Don't mess with the band aid – cave rule." Tim stared at her in disbelief. Since when had that been a cave rule? She shrugged when he asked the question out loud. "Since you started messing with the band aid. Now leave it alone."

"What if something is really wrong with him?" _What if something is really wrong with me?_ Tim's concern is a valid one – but it's one they deal with every time the deal with Scarecrow or Joker.

"Then we'll deal with that when it comes up, but we'll deal with it together." Bruce leaves the computer and walks over to pull Tim into one of his completely out of left field hugs that he used when they were hurt or more shook up than usual. He wasn't just speaking to Tim – the statement covered all of them**. **As soon Bruce had finished, Jason shifted his focus back to Damian, rubbing his hand up and down his arms, taking care to avoid the lacerations and running his fingers through his hair. Damian had had enough sense to keep his head off the hooks as much as possible, so he was spared having his head shaved to get at any wounds on his head.

Leslie arrived in record time and examined Tim first, taking him to the back and closing the curtain firmly on all of them. Dick had taken to pacing the floor, pausing only to glance in the direction that his brother had disappeared.

Stephanie hopped up on the examination table next to Damian and began to absently run her fingers through his hair as she thought out loud. "Kidnapping's not Cain's MO – he usually goes for a straight up kill, so for him to decide to step out of his comfort zone, which criminals rarely do, means that they have something on him or they were offering something he wanted very badly."

The three males stared at her in surprise. How on earth had they missed that? Dick moved over to the computer as Jason pulled out his cell phone to call Cassandra. Dick began to flip through Cain's various aliases as Jason made small talk with Cass and Stephanie waited anxiously.

"Cass says she's fine and hasn't noticed anything unusual, but she'd keep an eye out and report back to us tomorrow." Stephanie visibly relaxed; Cass was one of her best friends and she didn't want anything to happen to her.

"I've got nothing so far, but he has so many aliases that it'll probably take awhile." Dick spun around in the chair so that he was facing them. "And Babs said that she'd look them over to make sure that I didn't miss anything."

The sound of footsteps had heads snapping up as the watched Tim and Leslie walk into view; Leslie looking calm, Tim a light red. Leslie gave a small smile. "He's fine, nothing that a little rest won't cure and certainly nothing as bad as he's had before."

"Told you." Tim dropped into the chair next to Dick, sticking out his tongue in a rare display of childishness as Leslie moved over towards Damian. "So there."

"I'm sorry, Mr. I'm – fine – what – do – you – mean – that's – a – broken – arm? for not taking _your_ word for it." Dick didn't even sound remotely apologetic. Tim gave a humph and slouched in the chair, getting a giggle out of Stephanie, who only laughed harder when he glared at her.

"Sorry, it's been awhile since you've, you know." And he did know, which earned her a humph and narrowed eyes. She shrugged, still looking amused.

"I'm going to wait until Damian wakes up, but I suspect that other than the cuts, he's fine." Leslie straightened up, her eyes kind. "Based on a preliminary examination I think there isn't anything that, again, won't be cured by a few days bed rest."

She frowned at Bruce again. "The only thing I recommend for the drugs is to let him sleep it off for now. If he doesn't start to wake up in the next six hours or anything gets worse, give me a call."

"We will." Bruce waited until Leslie and Stephanie were driving away before he turned to Tim. "Tell me everything that happened and everything that you remember."

It took two hours for them to finish going over Tim's story, trying to find some inconsistency or clue that might lead them to whoever hired Cain, because so far his accounts and aliases had revealed a big fat nothing. And Cain had escaped from the warehouse before the police could arrive, though Shrike was in police custody at the hospital.

Then a small moan from the bed had all their attention. Bruce made it across the room first, followed closely by Dick, then the others. Bruce gently put his hand on Damian's cheek and moved his thumb in soothing circles. Damian leaned into the touch and gave a small sigh before his eyes opened. Everyone released a breath they hadn't been aware they were holding.

"F-father?" Damian muttered, letting his eyes slip shut for another moment before opening them back up, trying and succeeding minimally, to focus on Bruce's face.

"Right here, Damian," Bruce murmured quietly. "I'm right here."

"Tim?" Damian asked, trying to stay conscious.

"Here, Baby Bird," Tim spoke up. Drugged over eyes made their way over to Tim's face. A small frown tugged at Damian's face as his eyes drifted over them all.

"Why're you 'll still in costume?" He slurred. Everyone looked at each other in surprise. They'd completely forgotten about getting changed. Except for Tim, who'd gotten changed after Leslie's examination. Alfred had brought down changes of clothing for all them, even Stephanie, but none of them had paid them any mind. Alfred had then retreated upstairs, probably making pick-me-up food for them. He'd most likely be down within another half hour to make them eat it.

"Been worried about you, little D," Jason spoke up. "Nobody's got time to get changed while they're worrying."

"Tim did," Damian yawned, but he didn't sound accusing.

"Tim had to get examined by Dr. Thompkins," Bruce told him. "As will you when we call her."

"'M fine," Damian muttered. "Jus'…jus' tired."

"No way, little man," Tim cut across him. "If I had to get examined, you do too." He was not going to suffer this indignity alone, dammit.

"How do you feel?" Bruce asked. Damian glared, but the overall effect was adorable rather than annoying.

"I just said tired," he snapped as best he could. At Bruce's glare his scowl fade into a sulky look. "Thirsty, a headache…can't remember anything after reaching our destination." Almost instantly, a glass of water materialized at Bruce's elbow and he took, gently helping Damian sit up and tipping the cup towards his mouth. Damian swallowed greedily and let out a small whine when Bruce pulled the water away.

"You'll get sick," he told him. He glanced up. "Stephanie, go get Leslie." Damian made another unhappy noise as the blond moved away, but this time it was because of the prospect of having to get checked out. Bruce gave him one look, though, and Damian settled down. Bruce glanced away when he heard the entrance leading to the manor open and Dick took the opportunity to climb up beside his brother, pulling him into a hug and settling in next to him. Jason snickered at the look Damian's face. Even when drugged, Damian pulled off a spectacular piss face, even if he didn't mean it, as evidenced by the way he snuggled closer. Bruce allowed a small smile to cross his lips at the sight when he turned back.

Jason decided that tonight was a good night to copy his older brother's style and promptly climbed up with the other two. Tim, usually more reserved then the others, simply stood closer to the bed while Jason latched onto the other two. After a moment, Dick wiggled his arm free and yanked Tim down on top of them. Bruce snorted as Tim flailed around, trying to keep his balance on the small, already over-crowded bed as Jason, Damian and Tim all let out an identical indignant squawk. Dick only cackled and somehow managed to get his arms around all three of them.

"Grayson," Damian groused, his voice becoming steadier with each word. "What is your obsession with physical contact?" They finally settled down in a position that didn't exactly look comfortable, but it worked. Jason and Dick were lying side by side with Tim and Damian curled into each other on top of them. His two youngest looked as though they were still trying work out how they felt about this arrangement.

"Why can't Alfred just look me over?" Damian asked. He was comfortably curled into Dick, who had sat up so he was propped against the wall. Jason still laying down and Dick was absently carding his fingers through his hair.

"Because Leslie is a qualified doctor," Bruce answered.

"Which is why Alfred is the one to stitch us up every time we come back to the cave," Damian said sarcastically. "What's different this time?" There was silence as everyone tried to figure out how to answer him. Dick's arm tightened around Damian. That and the silence clued Damian into something was most likely very wrong.

"Father?" He asked, starting to sound worried.

"Cain and Shrike used a combination of drugs that I am unfamiliar with – I would simply like a qualified doctor's second opinion that the drugs are flushing through your system normally." Damian studied Bruce for a minute before nodding and relaxing back into his position on top of Dick.

Damian almost had a conniption when Leslie arrived and he was forced to move from his spot on the pile. He swiftly calmed himself, not wanting to make a scene. Especially since he doubted that Tim had made one. Thankfully, it was swift and the results were the same as Tim – bed rest and lots of it – and Stephanie was driving Thompkins home for the night just as Alfred came down to tell them the food he'd been preparing was ready. The atmosphere was lighter now as everyone finally felt the tension leave them and they got changed into sweats and T-shirts and convened in the kitchen.

Because Alfred said they had to eat before they went to bed and nobody said 'no' to Alfred.

It wasn't a surprise to anyone that Damian found his way into Bruce's room only an hour after going to bed. Or that Dick had pulled the others there, including Stephanie, who had called her mother to make an excuse about staying at a friend's house. Bruce had told her in no uncertain terms that she was staying the night at the manor whether she liked it or not until he had a chance to….talk...to Powers.

As Bruce watched, Stephanie shifted in her sleep and Tim readjusted his hold accordingly. Jason grunted and threw an arm over them both as Dick shifted closer to Jason in an attempt to get away from the edge of the bed. Damian's grip tightened on Bruce's shirt and a small smile graced Bruce's features.

For the time being, his family was safe.

**Please Review.**


	9. The second Thursday

**Disclaimer: **Do not own and am not making money and the Batfamily belong to DC.

**A/N:** Last chapter.

**Thursday**

"Powers." Only years of rigorous self discipline kept Derek Powers from jumping a foot in the air. He turned quickly, but there was no one behind him. "You threatened people in _my _city. You tried to extort business owners and CEOs."

"You can't prove a thing." Powers was confident of that – he was careful, years of training ensuring that he would never leave evidence behind.

"I don't need any – but you're right, I can't prove it." A long ominous pause. "Which is why I'm giving you until noon tomorrow to vacate my city."

"I'm not about to be chased away by some freak in –" Powers gave a squeak of fright as he was suddenly pressed against the railing so far he was nearly falling over it. The man – monster, he corrected himself – looming over him looked as though he was carved from granite.

"Noon. Don't make me come here a second time." Powers was thrown to the balcony floor in a pile of limbs. By the time he had made it to his feet, Batman had gone, nothing left behind to show he had ever been present. Powers gave his collar a nervous pull and retreated back into the illusionary safety of his room. He had a lot to prepare for.

* * *

><p>"Mr. Wayne?" Victoria, the latest in a long line of secretaries, paged him just before lunch. Bruce answered in the affirmative and she continued, "Mr. Powers called to cancel his appointment –he said something urgent had come up with his main plant and he needed to make it back as soon as possible. He sends his apologies and hopes that he can talk to you at a later date."<p>

"Thank you Victoria." Bruce switched off the speaker and leaned back, a grim smile appearing on his features. "I hope we can talk at a later date too. I fact, I guarantee we will."

**End**

**Ta da! The story is done! I'm actually rather proud of myself - and my cowritter - for that fact. **

**As Always, please review.**


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